Premium Essay

Social Media Influence

In:

Submitted By ReynaF89
Words 1736
Pages 7
Reyna Fuentes
Professor Carlton Abernathy
Comm 1307: Intro to Mass Communication
6 July 2016

Social Media Influences

How many of us remember being a pre-teen or teenager? Those crucial middle school and high school years can be rough on their own but add social media sites like Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat and life as a young adolescent can be publicized and critiqued more so by hundreds of people you might not even know. Social media is a term used to describe the interaction between groups or individuals in which they produce, share, and sometimes exchange ideas over the internet and in virtual communities. The impact of social media on young adolecents is significant, children are growing up surrounded by mobile devices and interactive social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat which has made the social media a vital aspect of their life. Social media is transforming the manner in which teenages interact with their parents, peers, as well as how they make use of technology. If not used properly however social media can be used in a negative context.
My niece has been a victim of social cyberbullying on 2 of the 3 sites named above. She is a gorgeous 15yr old girl with full potential to take life by storm. Unfortunately, a group of her peers didn’t feel the same about her they not only shamed her at school but would post things on Facebook and Instagram about her. I believe the infatuation today’s world has with posting everything on a social media site is a little out of hand. It causes so much doubt about oneself, questions am I good enough? Could my life be more? Because they compare their own strides to those of others they see on Instagram, Facebook, or any of the other sites mentioned above. My niece dealt with her own struggles believing she was the ugly duckling because of Instagram shaming every time she would

Similar Documents

Free Essay

Influence on Social Media

...Can social media influence people’s thoughts and ideas? People use media every day we such as watching TV, Surfing the internet, Social media sites, and play video games. Media plays an important role in our everyday activities. However, these every day activities influence our actions. There are many pros and cons that visual media has affected children and the American culture. Media influences our thoughts and plays a major role in our lives. We use media every day on a regular basis for many different things. Whether it is to surf the internet for information, or watching movies and television online. I think it has influenced the way we look at others and base it how we should be. An example, would be young girls see super models a reality stars on magazines and in reality it is not really them. The models are photo shopped or have been airbrushed. Therefore, it is setting a bad example of what girls should look like. Another example, advertising has affected the way we purchase items. These ads make it seem that you have to have purchase their product in order to fit in. There are many pros and cons of visual media on how it affects our behavior. Some of the pros of visual media are how it influenced education. There is so much information on the internet we have access to. There are so many television programs that are education such as the history channel. Children are able to learn from watching these educational programs. Visual media is positive but, it...

Words: 346 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Influence Of Social Media On American Democracy

...Social media is a threat to American democracy because it has an influence on everyone’s opinions in multiple situations. People’s lives revolve around social media these days and it’s where they end up getting their news, information, and it’s also the way people contact each other. You can be thousands of miles away and be able to communicate through multiple sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, ect. One main way it influences our society is it’s how the political parties campaign. Sure they also go to travel to different states to speak in front of people, and they put it on television. But they also record it and put it on sites like Youtube, and Facebook so others can see it. Now a days people are so content with how they spend their...

Words: 671 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Young American Social Media Influence

...Social Media and Psychological Well-being of Young Americans Part One Since the introduction of social media in America it has been growing substantially in popularity among users of all ages, specifically young generations of Americans (Ferris and Stein, 2014, pg. 29). Technology continues to advance and become a more prevalent part of our society and social media has continued growing in popularity alongside technology. New sites and apps are being introduced regularly and with social media now being available on smart phones there is a growing dependency seen among young Americans to constantly have access to social media accounts. Social media is available at our fingertips any second of the day as long as our smartphone is within reach....

Words: 901 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

The Influence of Social Media

...No matter what your age, throughout your life you will be learning. Your formal education ends with high school, but for many the learning never ends. You may attend a university, trade school, night school, community college or adult school. You may enhance your knowledge via business seminars, lectures, books, e-courses, and whatever else shows up in our information society. So wouldn’t it be helpful to have some good study habits and some tools to increase your ability to learn? Although you may not be studying information to get good grades, retention of what you are learning can help your career, your parenting skills, your business, your relationships, your hobbies, and so much more. So it makes sense to acquire good learning skills sooner than later. Skills such as speed reading and good comprehension are useful for all the great information you want to take in. Poor memory or memory loss is generally observed with aging. People suffering from poor memory retention could be improved to a great extent following a suitable diet. It is also related to slow learning and low levels of concentration that may arise due to different physiological disorders. There may be transient memory loss with the aged persons. Poor memory condition is generally attributed to the under performance of the brain cells due to aging. One should also not ignore the harmful effects of the excess intake of carbohydrate and sugar in regular diet. Memory loss needs to be diagnosed correctly before...

Words: 547 - Pages: 3

Free Essay

The Influence of Social Media

... Local Related Literature Social networks gave a big help to everyone, especially among the students businessman and other members of the society. Social networks has different features that may enjoy by the people all around the world, what the problem is, people loses their self-control in using them. Facebook is the most popular social networking site today wherein people may share and upload videos, pictures, messages and chat. Twitter is also famous to every people nowadays wherein people can share their feelings, thoughts and ideas. Through twitter, they can easily be connected to their favorite celebrities and they can also be updated on what is trend all around the world. Aside from these two, Tumbler, MySpace, and Bing also became a raging craze to everyone. Social networking communities will definitely stay due to its millions of users. In addition, students today stay on these accessibilities of information they may get in social networks. Social network may help them in giving knowledge in thesis and journals but still negative effects of this still overweighs especially about losing their self-control. Social networks bring a big benefit about communication because through this we can easily communicate our loved ones despite of the geographic distance. Social network may also help celebrities to be more contact to their fans because through these sites they can easily post what are the recent happenings about them. Through social networks we can be updated...

Words: 1883 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Social Media Influence

...Have you ever locked yourself in your room because you felt too embarrassed to go out in public? Well, I have. You see, I was never one of those skinny girls who could wear “brand named” clothes. I have been fighting my way through life, emotionally and physically. There were many times that I blame myself for the way I am. There was many times where I just wanted to give up and shut myself out and forget about the world. I felt like I didn’t have what it takes to fit in with society. I sometimes ask myself, “Why does society want us to look a specific way?” People of all different sex/age are influence by print ads, fashion, and the media. It gives people the need to be someone they aren’t. People have dramatically changed their bodies and the way they look due to the media. They go from a normal body to something that looks totally impossible. Some people over exercise and some starve themselves. This includes girls being overly obsessed with how their bodies look like; having the idea that the right body is supposed to be skinny, boys having the need to build muscles, and how others look down upon those who looks different. Today, girls have the urge to be skinny because of the models being used to sell specific items from brand name clothing companies, such as Victoria Secret, Hollister, Areopostale, and more. The only way to get customers is to use attractive girls with big breast and “sexy” bodies to sell their items. For example, Victoria’s Secret is a place where people...

Words: 1439 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Social Media Influence On Suicide

...internet and social media can influence suicide- related behavior. Suicide is a public health problem; more than 30,000 suicide deaths in United States and nearly 1 million of suicide deaths occur every year. Researchers are interested in whether the internet in general primarily helps or hinders suicide prevention. Nobody not sure how the internet and social media can relate to suicide behavior. They are trying to figure that issue out by debating the issue. They discuss the role of social media in suicide-related behavior and shape the issue from a public health perspective. Researchers discuss ways that social media can have a negative influence on suicide-related behavior and they analyze the evidence of this influence. They then provide example of how social media can be used in the prevention of suicide. Researchers talk about the legal complication of how important this topic and the future direction for research and prevention programs that are based on public health perspective. The researchers look up on website about suicide terms and information on suicide methods. Studies hits 373 web site, 31% were suicide neutral, 29% were...

Words: 575 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

The Media and Social Problems Douglas Kellner

...The media provide access to and construct social problems for large numbers of audiences throughout the world and in turn themselves have become a social problem in view of their multiple and complex effects, many negative. The media have been blamed by a wide spectrum of theorists and critics for promoting violence and sexism, racism, homophobia, ageism, and other oppressive social phenomena. Social problems connected with the media also involve allegedly harmful media influence on children and youth; pornography and the degradation of women and sexuality; advertising manipulation; and the promotion of excessive consumerism and materialism. Empirical research on media effects into these areas has been mixed and highly contested. Many studies have affirmed that media have negative social effects and help reproduce a number of social problems, while other studies assert skepticism toward claims of negative media effects or attempt to confirm positive aspects of the media. 1 Empirical studies are often funded by institutions who have interests in escaping or deflecting criticism, or they are constrained by bias and limitations of various kinds. Yet dominant theories of the media are equally contested on whether the media promote serious social problems or have a more benign influence. Conflicting theories and research into media effects have intensified debates throughout the world about media as a social problem. Research into media effects and linking the media...

Words: 493 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Mass Media Control

...Mass Media Control Tambela Vaughn Everest University Brandon Online Abstract The research included within this paper is several online articles, periodicals, and related books to mass-media control and its psychological adaptation in an individual’s mind. I also performed a media and mind control case study. I used my family for the subjects; my older sister who is a Licensed Practical Nurse (L.P.N.) and my mother who is a widow, an evangelist, and retired home nurse, for the control group, and my nephews who are fraternal twins, age thirteen for the experimental group. My observations were to observe both groups for a week during different intervals of media exposure. My nephews, the experimental group, were observed during and after watching television, using the computer, and listening to music. They were then observed when these forms of media were limited. My mother and sister, the control group, were observed during the limited periods of their television usage and listening to non-secular music. I believe there is direct correlation between adults and children who watch and listen to obsessive amounts of television, movies, news, and popular music and aggressive behavior, stress, dispositions, and sleep and eating habits. The case study observations supported this theory. Keywords: mass media, mass-media control, aggressive behavior, perceptions, adverse misconceptions, psychological adaptation, media nationalism, suggestive media, groupthink nationalism...

Words: 2933 - Pages: 12

Premium Essay

Effects of News Media

...Effects of News Media Media Influences on American Culture April 1, 2013 Effects of News Media The media has increased the availability of information about politics here and across the country. People have to constantly watch so they can stay in the know. The media plays a major part whether it comes from the newspaper, radio, television, or internet. It is important because it validates an issue or person, sets an agenda, and helps shape public opinion. Although the media is an important tool in society it is often biased, creates sensationalism and simplifies complex issues. Media information outlets have a social responsibility to report the news in a fair, unbiased and truthful format. Personal values and ethics will influence what a person thinks is socially responsible and this will make them think the media has different functions. For instance, I read two stories about two different women being raped. The first woman was gang raped in India. The media only covered information about the suspects how they were heavy drinkers, rowdy, and drunk drivers. No information nearly about the victim. The second woman was raped in Ohio by her classmates. Now her father talked about what her hopes and dreams were and how hard she worked to pay for her education. The news also put a lot of coverage on the suspects and how they were good students. The media needs to report the whole story and not just half of it. This is especially...

Words: 636 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Visual Media

...Influences of Visual Media HUM/176 Media and American Culture May 11, 2013 Influences of Visual Media The electronic frenzy in the last 50 years, has made a huge impact on how we are influenced on the culture of television media we see today. The changes are for the better, for the most part. Television made a huge impact on developing a culture that people were really getting addicted to. The social media creators, learned that using television can help get the attention of our audience and have them watch more and more television. Media became a way to advertise and influence the culture of America. Television offered ways to communicate information that is currently happening in our world, but it was influential on those that watched it. Considering the darker side of television media, most if not all, were influenced by what they saw on television. Television media became stronger for the money. It was a great source of communication for current events and the imaginary culture too. The impact on the children were huge. Statistics showed that there are more tragic events with our children. There are movies that have influenced our children in doing what they see on television. Researchers found that when teen-age suicide films were aired the increase in the number of teen suicides or attempts increased significant. (How the Media Mold the World, 2003) There were many films that influenced killings or some type of violence that ended up influencing our children...

Words: 461 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Media

...Research Essay Effects Of Media On Teenagers In the last 10 to 15 years, the influence of media has grown exponentially with the advancement of technology. Starting from 1990s, the majority of our population did not have cable, teenagers back then relied more on news papers, magazines as internet was considered a luxury for the ordinary population at that time. With the passage of time, trends changed. Technological advancements and an economic boom have lead to increases in the standard of living. Teenagers have been exposed to media like never before. Cable networks and internet that were once luxuries have now become necessities. Media has a great influence in the development of a teenager’s personality and character. “The media is the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that’s power. Because they control the minds of the masses,” said the American black militant leader Malcolm X (qtd. in Krishna). The power or influence of media can easily alter or change a teenager’s opinion. This means that media can depict an ordinary thing so negatively that it may compel people to believe or act in quite the opposite way. So it is necessary to analyze the effects of media on teenagers because of the influence it has on them. Media can be both helpful and harmful to teenagers. But the negative effects of Media on teenagers clearly outweigh the positive ones which is becoming a great worry for the...

Words: 2508 - Pages: 11

Premium Essay

Effects of Mass Media

...Media Influences on American Culture Brandy Latham HUM/186 October 17, 2012 Niya Picket-Miller Abstract Media Influences on American Culture This is all about Media Influences on American Culture, I plan on telling you the different developments that has went on during the last century, and how the internet made its way to us. The major development of mass media during the last century is the internet, smart phones, and social networks. What we started with was the oral and written eras in communication. This was the alphabet and written words threw teachers and poets. Then we had commutation and the creation and use of symbol systems that convey information and meaning, like languages, Morse code, and motion pictures. Cultural industries and channels of communication that produce and distribute songs, novels, TV shows, newspapers, movies, internet services, video games and other cultural products to large numbers of people. Also we had the print and revolution, which was developed in china around 100c.e. Then in Germany they invented movable metallic type and the printing press. This spread rapidly across Europe in the late 1400s. Many of the books were large and elaborate and expensive and it took months to illustrate and publish these volumes. They were usually purchased by wealthy aristocrats, royal families, church leaders, and powerful politicians. Gradually, the publishers made the books smaller and more affordable so more people could buy them. ...

Words: 853 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Manufacturing Beauty

...since 1977. Additionally, visitors to the site learn that Jackson, who received her first Barbie Doll at the age of six, led a sheltered life and felt like a misfit. The Barbie Doll supported her fantasies of an alternative destiny until she became a teenager, at which time her interests turned to art and photography; her perception of visual presentation began. Social-self, Self-concept, Self-esteem, and Self-presentation The sense of identity, sense of self, is important to human psychology and sociology. It provides the sense of having free will and is the foundation of social control. The Myers text asserts that at the center of one’s world is his or her sense of self. It further states that, “the most important aspect of yourself is your self” (Myers, 2010). The beliefs by which one defines his or herself are self-schemas; the specific beliefs that define oneself. Moreover, one’s sense of self determines who he or she might become – the possible self. It is obvious that Cindy Jackson has psychological issues stemming from early childhood that led to the development of her ultimate social self. She thought of herself as disadvantaged in comparison to prettier classmates; the comparisons we make with others. She felt ugly because a friend once told her that when she smiled her nose and chin looked as though they might touch, how...

Words: 958 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Research Student

...MASS MEDIA EFFECTS In partial fulfillment of the requirements of Theories of Communication (LAC 701) A paper prepared by Group Four John Fasisi (91817) Kalim Gazal (136615) Moyofade Ipadeola (95580) Nwachukwu Egbunike (147181) Oluwaseun Oti (168137) Seyi Bodunde (168139) Victor Eze (167521) And submitted to: Professor F. A. Adesanoye Department of Communication and Language Arts Faculty of Arts University of Ibadan November 27, 2012 ABSTRACT This literature-driven study examined mass media effects. The work peered into the history of the ‘powerful media’. An in-depth review of relevant theories of mass media effects was analyzed. Findings pointed towards both positive and negative impacts of mass media. However, there was no empirical evidence to substantiate a direct cause and effect relationship of mass media messages with the actions of the consumer of the information. Consequently we can only assert that the mass media impacts on society but does not necessarily have an effect since other factors also influence people other than information consumed from the media. As such, this study asserts that the mass media influences public opinion but does not necessarily cause it. Key words: powerful media, mass media effects, theories of mass media effects, impact of media messages INTRODUCTION The mass media involve organisations that are responsible for the dissemination of information to a large number of people. Basically, the mass media...

Words: 13047 - Pages: 53